Beer: Reviews & Ratings

wow, one of the best breck beers ive ever had, incredibly good. done for seven week i think this year in templeton rye barrels. amazing it can take on so much of the whiskey flavors in such a short period of time. very impressive. the spice from the christmas ale is mellowed heavily by the wood, and the sweet and spicy whiskey takes it place. molasses and clove and even hops are all present in the taste, as is the vanilla and oak from the bourbon, a totally different beer than the regular christmas, almost more like a barrel aged barleywine in this manifestation, its just delicious. knowing that these guys can do beer this good is both refreshing and frustrating. for every avalanche amber ale, there is one of these, and we have to remember that when we think about breck. apparently they have bottled this before, i would love to see them do it again, its truly extraordinary holiday beer, i adore the barrel aged complexity of one of my favorite base christmas beers. memorable and brilliant (1,002 characters)

Pours a nice deep maroonish with a dirty cream head. Aroma starts off with the whiskey, it transitions into the sweet, semi spicy beer offering a nice breadiness, some nuttiness, maybe a touch of some spice, and a nice vanilla finish. All malt, no hops. A medium bodied, somwhat creamy mouthfeel. Overall, I was really impressed with this beer. I went in not expecting much based on my usual experiences with Breck Brewery but came away very pleased. Now I might have to give their regular Christmas Ale a shot. (511 characters)

A - A hard pour in a glass gave me a lot of head that shrank to a nice even coating that was a bit more then just a thin layer. Burnt orange reddish color. Very little noticible carbonation rising from the bottlom of the glass. Almost no lacing left in the glass but the top of the liquid keeps a nice coating on top of it.

S - Bready notes but not much of that even.

T - Spicy notes. It took a few sips to detect any of the whiskey notes. Very faint. Not as strong as the Well Built ESB. It at times gives more of the oak then the whiskey. The hop bitterness is also subtle, becoming more noticible as I drink. But the matls are what runs this beer.

M - Very smooth and drinkable, just as their Christmas Ale is.

O - Don't know how long it sat in the whiskey barrels but it doesn't seem to have that much. Tastes almost just like regular Christmas Ale but every so often a bit of the whiskey aging tries to pop up. Nice experiment but needs more next time. Maybe pass the whiskey and just go for a longer oak barrel. (1,021 characters)